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Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Song of the Day No.1: 'Caught in a Mosh', Anthrax


This is the first in a series of songs that get stuck in my head, that I intend to use next time I 'dj'*
Anthrax, like many heavy metal bands with cool names, are on of those bands that everyone's heard of, but nobody's heard. Ok apart from 'Bring the Noise' but that was with Public Enemy, so it doesn't count. Part of my 'dj'* manifesto is to complete listeners knowledge of music, and the best way to do that is through a song that fully captures what a band are about.

Anthrax were the least serious of the Thrash 'Big Four' (the others being Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth) and to the untrained ear their early stuff has all the hallmarks of a faster Spinal Tap. The benefits of which are reaped by the quality of cover artwork, as seen here on the right for their first album 'Fistful of Metal', which I think is a severed head through which a fist has been punched and has emerged through the mouth, at a weird angle, kind've from the side. (The cover for the album from which Caught in a Mosh was part (Among the Living), is actually a real letdown in the cheesy metal artwork stakes (although the cover for 'I'm the Man' (Anthrax's first attempt at 'rap' is quite funny)).

Anyway, 'Caught in a Mosh' apart from being one of the best thrash songs displaying the use of a verb as a noun, is a classic workout. It has a shouty, tunless, uptempo bit and a melodic chorus thanks to their singer who at the time was Joey Belladonna, which is an even better name than Quorthon, from Bathory. Even though it's not literally about being caught in a mosh it has some of the best 'weird lyrics', like - 'Shut up, shut up, I don’t wanna hear your mouth', 'Cold sweat, my fists are clenching / Stomp, stomp, stomp the idiot convention' and finally 'You’re always in the way, like a beast on my back / Were you dropped as a baby, cause brains you lack' - and seeing as i don't know how to post mp3s or if it's even legal to do that, lyrics is the best you're going to get.

The question is what do I play to the fore and aft? Not something to rocky, it'd be overkill, not something completely different cos it would sound too weird. Maybe I should just wimp out and play 'I'm the Man' or even worse 'Bring the Noise'. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

* This term will get an entry to itself, because it's a vile, ugly acronym.

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